JOEL GINGOLD LETTER NOW ONLINE, ADDRESSING AMONG OTHER ISSUES, RECENT GUIDO COMMENTARY

NOW ONLINE:

To the Editor,

I am 87 years old. I spent my career working hard as an engineering consultant and I have lived in Croton for nearly 85 years. I have been a Democrat my entire life. I voted for John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Barak Obama, and Joe Biden. Given all that, I am probably not the guy you would expect to be writing a letter opposing Ali Jaffery for Croton Village Justice.

But right is right and wrong is wrong.

Vincent Guido is certainly free to support and vote for whomever he chooses for any office. But he is not free to launch vicious and erroneous allegations against those who do not share his views. He claims that my letter supporting Sam Watkins for Village Justice rubbed him the wrong way. Gee, I’m really sorry about that, Mr. Guido, but I, too, am free to support and vote for whomever I choose.

And I take great offense at your accusation that my comments are “absolutely arrogant.” I take even greater offense at your thinly vailed claim that my support of Judge Watkins is based on “ugly xenophobia and racism.” You don’t even know me or anything about me, Mr. Guido, but I can tell you that, over the years, I have suffered from discrimination from that same xenophobia and racism that you erroneously accuse me of harboring. Perhaps you have suffered similarly, Mr. Guido, although I would hope not. It is not pleasant.

Accusing those who do not agree with you as racist, is the action of one who cannot make other strong arguments for their preferred candidate. I do not care a whit what Mr. Jaffery’s background may be. I care only who is best qualified to be our Village Justice. And there is no question in my mind, that Sam Watkins is, by far, the superior candidate.

Mr. Guido bemoans the fact that “a club of old white men” are running our institutions. Yet when I view the membership of our Village Board, I find that 60% of them are women and the two men currently serving are, at least from my perspective, relatively young. It is true that we do not have an individual of color serving on our Board (not that I find that at all significant). But in our last election just such a candidate was defeated in his quest for a seat. Does that mean that our entire electorate is steeped in “ugly xenophobia and racism?” I think not, but, perhaps, Mr. Guido would disagree with me there as well.

Mr. Guido touts Mr. Jaffery as a hard worker, “pushing his body to the absolute limit” in the gym, a dedicated father, and a serious attorney. Those are all positive attributes, but do they qualify someone to judge his neighbors, as opposed to one who has sat effectively as a judge for decades? I don’t think so. And Mr. Jaffery provided legal services pro bono for Mr. Guido, his neighbor. Is this no more than repayment and support of a friend? I wonder.

It has been routine in our village that candidates for elective office have previously made a contribution to village life through serving on our numerous village boards and committees or in one of the many non-governmental organizations that support our community. Mr. Jaffery, a relative newcomer to Croton, has yet to make such a contribution and I encourage him to do so before he once again puts his name in front of the voters.

I would also add that Mr. Jaffery’s only community action, of which I’m aware, is to publicly promulgate malicious, and untrue, accusations against a candidate for the Village Board who he did not favor. This is not at all the action of one who aspires to sit in judgement of his fellow citizens.

My problems with Mr. Jaffrey’s candidacy go beyond what I feel are his lesser qualifications, his temperament, and the absence of his making any meaningful contribution to our village. The manner in which the Croton Democratic Committee threw Sam Watkins under the bus and anointed Mr. Jaffery, without any public indication as to why this was done, offends me. There are many rumors circulating in the village about why such an action was taken, but I do not trade in rumor and will not repeat any of them here. However, there is clearly a lot about that process that we outsiders have not been made privy to.

There is much more going on in the contest for our next Village Justice, but I think Paul Steinberg, in last week’s rather lengthy analysis, covered the issues pretty well. While Paul and I may disagree over whether we should maintain a court in the village, I would heartily agree with much of what he presented.

In the end, it comes down to who one believes will best serve our community as Village Justice. For both his judicial temperament and his experience, Sam Watkins is that individual, and he has earned our votes through his hard work, positive structuring of the village court, and many years of extraordinary service. I hope you will all join me in returning Sam to the bench. We deserve nothing less.

Sincerely,

Joel E. Gingold